"Albrechtsrampe"
gelatin silver print
blindstamp on recto, copyright stamp on verso
This photograph by the renowned Austrian photographer Rudolf Koppitz offers a particularly striking view across Albertinaplatz in Vienna.
In the background stands the equestrian statue of Archduke Albrecht, an Austrian field marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Army who became famous for his victory at the Battle of Custozza in 1866. The statue stands directly in front of the Albertina, ten meters above street level on the Augustinerbastei (also known as the Kärntner Bastei), a section of the former city fortifications. In the foreground on the left is the Mozart Monument, seen from behind. The monument was unveiled in 1896 in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I. Prior to that, however, there was fierce controversy over the monument, both regarding the awarding of the commission and the location. The Viennese satirical magazine Floh published a caricature featuring a warning from Mozart: "But because of me, the master of harmony, such disharmony! Children, if you want to argue, go somewhere else; there isn’t even room for a monument here, much less for a brawl!"1 This was an allusion to Albertinaplatz, which to this day is more of a street intersection than a square. The Mozart monument was partially destroyed by bombs in 1945 and dismantled; today it stands in the Burggarten.
Koppitz chose a very unusually low perspective, situated exactly at the level of Café Mozart behind the monument. He presumably photographed the scene precisely from the viewpoint of the intellectuals who sat in the coffeehouse and mocked the urban crampedness and the unfortunate placement of the monument on a daily basis. Koppitz was a master of pictorialism. He did not use photography for simple snapshots, but composed images like paintings. Here, Koppitz visually captures exactly what the satirical magazine Floh criticized. The Mozart monument appears to be literally crushed and overshadowed by the stately ramp and the massive equestrian statue.
(Christoph Fuchs)
Note
S-3076, Front view
S-3076, view verso
S-3076